Oklahoma rule change would allow lobbyists to give free, unreported meals to lawmakers

Commissioner John Raley, who has led the charge the past several years to limit the number of meals and gifts lobbyists may give to lawmakers and elected officials, railed against the proposal.

“This opens up an opportunity for mischief,” he said. “We are diluting incrementally one of the most important rules that we have enacted in almost 10 years.”

A ruled passed in 2008 by the Ethics Commission and allowed by legislators to become law reduced from $300 to $100 the amount spent on legislators and elected officials by a “lobbyist principal” during a calendar year.

Lobbyist principals are companies or associations that hire lobbyists and provide the money to buy meals and other gifts for legislators.

The proposed rule would allow lobbyists to provide a lunch or dinner for a group of legislators without counting it against the $100 annual limit.

Lobbyists would be allowed to use the exception one time a year; the meal must take place during the session and at the state Capitol.

“You're not going to have breakfast at Tiffany's at the Capitol,” said Commissioner Bob McKinney, a former lobbyist.

Raley said he doesn't understand why lobbyists should be buying meals or giving anything of value to lawmakers.

“Why should an elected official receive things of value from anyone who is trying to influence his vote?” Raley asked. “To me, naively, I thought that was ‘Ethics 101.' You just don't do it.

“If we start making exceptions as this would allow, then I think gradually and perhaps incrementally, that rule which we enacted some years ago will be diluted,” Raley said.

Lobbyists typically buy lunches for the Democratic and Republican caucuses for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The caucuses meet every Monday while legislators are in session, from early February until late May.